[HANASHIR:8689] Chad Gadya

[Joel Shickman <joel...>]

Shalom all.

With everybody putting two shekels in, we are certainly much richer than
before.  I hope that we can understand the many different mindsets that
we bring to this issue (I also hope that I am not doing a disservice to
you by trying to 'sound-byte' the many opinions):

* There are so many good songs to teach and that if one particular one
is questionable in our own mind, then it's better to leave it out. After
all, we only have a limited amount of time and we'll never get to ALL of
the relevant songs that we want to use.

* Violence is a real part of our society and ignoring will only force
our children to deal with it on their own.

* Cartoon or mythic violence does not have the same impact that we all
fear it does.

* There is something to be learned at many different age levels about
death, agression, other violent issues, etc.

I have been songleading for two years now for K-4th graders and one
important thought that goes through my mind is that I am responsible for
what my kids take with them when they leave my program.  I can't control
what they think, but I can control what I offer.  I do not feel
comfortable saying that Chad Gadya is 'appropriate' or 'not appropriate'
for pre-schoolers.  It depends on how your specific kids react.

Lastly, I would ask how many kids is an acceptable number who might take
the song the wrong way and be hurt/scared/inspired by it?  Ten?  Three?
One?  None?

This sounds like another great Talmud 2000 topic (re: Joel Grishaver).
I'll be interested to see if this is worthy of a response?

Joel
Dallas, TX

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